There are a number of classic PSOne games already available on the PlayStation Network (PSN), but we all have our favorites and get frustrated that they either aren’t available to download, or take forever to get released on the digital service.

Sony realizes there is a lot of frustration over this, and has decided to explain why it takes a long time and why some games never make it.

The process of taking a PSOne game and emulating it for PSN can be boiled down to the following steps:

Acquire original disc copy of the game

Legal department checks licenses and rights and clears game for re-release

Game image and description (in 8 languages) created ready for PSN

SCEI sent disc to create digital version and bug test

Digital version sent to quality assurance department for thorough testing

It looks like quite a simple process, but every stage can throw up a big hurdle, some of which take months to solve or render a release impossible.

Here’s the main reasons why a game never makes it to PSN:

Publisher and/or developer no longer exists making it difficult or impossible to track down who owns the rights to the game

Game uses licenses that have expired for brands, characters owned by other publishers, or music. In some cases re-licensing isn’t an option

Game produces bugs when emulated that make it unplayable

The licensing problem is made worse if you consider a European release which has different music licensing than the U.S., multiple languages, multiple versions for content, etc. Apparently PAL releases also had a unique form of DRM on some discs killing any chance of games carrying it ever getting on PSN. Therefore if a U.S. PSOne game appears on PSN first, at least now you know it’s down to a lot of extra work required before Europe gets it.

So next time you wonder why awesome game X isn’t on PSN, consider it might not be a lazy developer or Sony dragging its feet. It may be DRM problems, a publisher not wanting to re-license some music, or a bug in the game that makes the visual render upside down in the emulator for no apparent reason.

Reader Comments

Jon Hoffman

This is why any argument that claims licensing/copyright for video games(and most multimedia stuff) is “good for consumers” is bull. With no licensing on any of this stuff, or less restrictive licensing, consumers would have a LOT more content to consume and would probably be more satisfied with it… They might even buy more of it …